Monday, June 21, 2010

Summertime, And theLivin' is Easy

If you're like me, you have a mile-long list of things to do over the summer because you think you'll have time to do it. At least that is what you tell yourself and everyone you talk to. Realistically you know you won't get much of this list done, if anything at all (I know I won't).

Well, I'll try not to add too much to your list, although I know that I have already for some of you. If you don't have anything to do, browse through the blog posts on the right of this page and you'll be sure to find something that piques your interest. There are many things worth investing your time in.

Now, I'd actually like to show you something that could save you time this summer. Many teachers are in the midst of transferring their lessons into SMART Notebook to make them easier to use with their SMARTboards. Is this a necessary step for everyone? No, its not. Is it more convenient to have your lessons in Notebook rather than Word or PDF? I would argue yes.

So, how can you get your lessons into Notebook from another program? There are 3 different methods that I'd recommend, depending on the situation.

#1. Copy and Paste. As simple as it gets. Highlight your work. Select copy. Paste into Notebook. This method is the best method due to the fact that you can still edit text in Notebook by double-clicking on it. It allows for more customization than the next two methods because of this. However, it isn't the fastest method.

#2. Screen Capture. Certainly the slowest method, screen capture will allow you to copy your lessons into Notebook by selecting an area using the screen capture tool. This method is one to consider if you cannot copy and paste your material. However, with screen capture, you will not be able to edit text because you are capturing images. If you can't remember how to use screen capture, watch the video in this blog post.

#3. Notebook Print Capture. This method is the fastest out of the three and is like a one-click screen capture method. It will take a picture of each page and insert them into a Notebook file. Like screen capture, each page is an image so you are unable to edit them. Occasionally, the quality of the images are suspect. If this happens, you should use option #2 - screen capture. Watch the quick video below to see how Print Capture works.

Author:

I am currently in my first year as vice-principal of Rosemary School in Rosemary, Alberta, Canada. I enjoy learning about new technologies as well as educational leadership and their implications for the classroom. Twitter is where I go to learn. Through my blog, I try to share that learning with others.